The Funniest Man in Baseball

The True Story of

Max Patkin

Clarion Books
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
(pub. 4.3.2018)
40 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Audrey Vernick
    and illustrator: Jennifer Bower

C haracters: Max Patkin

O verview from the jacket flap: 
     "Max Patkin was in the minor leagues when an injury sidelined him. He left his dreams behind and joined the navy, where eventually he was able to play ball again. And this time he got to pitch against superstar Joe DiMaggio! When Joe hit one out of the park, Max threw down his glove, left the pitcher's mound, and chased Joe around the bases, making faces and imitating his every move. The crowd loved it! A baseball clown was born.
     This inspiring and comical biography about a professional ballplayer turned legendary funnyman carries an important message: Dreams don't usually turn out exactly as you'd hoped... but moving in a new direction can sometimes bring happy surprises."

T antalizing taste: 
      "Did you hear the one about the pitcher who walked into a ballpark? He turned into a clown!

     No, seriously!
     TRUE STORY!
     The pitcher's name was Max Patkin and when he was growing up in Philadelphia, he slept with his baseball glove and cap under his pillow every night.
     He worked to become a high-kicking fastball pitcher, playing in sandlot games and then straight through high school and into the minor leagues.
     He was a funny guy, a goofy guy, always looking for a laugh, but serious about becoming a major-league player."

    

and something more:  Audrey Vernick's Author's Note explains: "He loved talking about the long afternoons and evenings at ballparks all over the country, the players he met, the publicity stunts he'd witnessed, the amazing firsts and lasts and never-agains. Some of the stories sounded unbelievable, even to Max, and he was there when they happened. That's why he'd often add 'true story' at the end. It was Max's version of 'happily ever after.'"

Brothers At Bat

The True Story of 

An Amazing All-Brothers Baseball Team

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by The Swimmer Writer

Clarion Books

(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

(pub. 4.3.2012) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Audrey Vernick

     and Illustrator:  Steven Salerno

C haracters: The Acerra brothers 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

       "12 Brothers

         1 Baseball

         The Acerra family had sixteen children. Twelve of them were boys, and they all played baseball.

         It was the 1930s, and many families had lots of kids. But only one had enough to field a baseball team ... with three on the bench!

         The Acerras loved the game, but more important, they cared for and supported one another and stayed together as a team. Nothing life threw their way could stop them.

         This is their amazing story." 

T antalizing taste: 

        "In 1997, the Baseball Hall of Fame held a special ceremony to honor them ... After such a thrilling day, you could picture them driving off into the sunset, happily ever after.

        But their bus broke down.

        They could have sat on the curb, grumbling in the summer heat. But someone found a bat and a ball, and as three generations of Acerras waited for a new bus, they played ball.

        That ball soared from grandfather to granddaughter, from father to son.

        From brother to brother."         

and something more: I'm enamored by this wonderful new picture book biography, Brothers at Bat, by Audrey Vernick with "period illustrations" by Steven Salerno. Reading it reminded me of warm summer evenings watching baseball games with my dad. We would pull the TV out into the backyard and stretch out on lounge chairs. I also went to oodles of my brother's baseball games who pitched through high school and college.
        I like that although the text explains that "the [Acerra] sisters didn't play [because back] then, most people thought sports were just for boys," the illustration shows a sister pitching a mean fastball with a ball of yarn to another sister, poised at a dustpan/home plate, ready to swing her broom in hand.  And the Author's note ends with a quote, from a daughter of one of the players, saying, "We were all raised to be team players, no matter what situation we were in - at work, at play, at war, in relationships - you carry that spirit with you. And it's part of you. That spirit was inspired in everyone who knew the Acerra brothers."  And now that circle of influence (or should I say "diamond" of influence) has expanded to us, the lucky readers.  It's a grand slam!

She Loved Baseball

The Effa Manley Story

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by The Swimmer Writer

Harper Collins Childrens

(pub. 10.19.2010)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Audrey Vernick
     and Illustrator:  Don Tate

C haracter: Effa Manley

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "Effa Manley always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth's mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first—and only—woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

         From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences." 

 

T antalizing taste: 

     "As Effa grew up in Philadelphia in the early 1900s, America grew up too. Bold new music - jazz - blared and folks stepped out in strange new shoes called sneakers... [In] 2006... Suttles and Mackey - and ten other Negro League players - were finally inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Effa would have been so proud.  Something else happened that day - something amazing. Effa was inducted along with them!....  On Effa's gravestone it says: "SHE LOVED BASEBALL.  In 2006, baseball proved it loved her back."

and something more:   The teacher activity guide for She Loved Baseball - The Effa Manley Story posted on Audrey Vernick's website proposes an interesting activity for students:

"Effa grew up in the 1920’s listening to a new kind of music—jazz—
and sneakers were all the rage. If someone were to write a
biography about your life, what kind of music would be mentioned? What
about a fashion trend? Draw an illustration of yourself like the one Don
Tate created of Effa listening to jazz music. In the background, add some of your favorite things that are popular in today’s culture."

What type of music would accompany your biography?  I think I would have different music for different phases of my life. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY

And, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, The King Center Imaging Project’s website – www.thekingcenter.org/archive – will go live today.  The King Center Imaging Project is a digitization effort to preserve and make publicly available the tens of thousands of documents from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other key figures and organizations from the Civil Rights Movement housed at The King Center.

On the King Center site, Coretta Scott King writes that "The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example — the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit."